1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to physical browsing systems and methods and in particular, to systems and methods enabling selection of objects in a physical environment.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Browsing is typically done by searching for information on a network, e.g. the Internet, using a search engine. A search engine is a system for information retrieval used to help find information stored on a computer system, such as on the World Wide Web, inside a corporate or proprietary network, or in a personal computer. Search engines typically allow a user to specify textual criteria and retrieve a list of items that match those criteria.
Browsing is typically done at a computer or other type of communication device, e.g., a text pager, mobile phone or PDA (personal digital assistant), which has an input mechanism for inputting text. However, if a user does not have such an input device, or is performing some other action that does not permit him to use such an input device, then browsing is difficult if not impossible.
Recently, the addition of geo-tagging and geo-parsing has been added to certain documents or indexed items, to enable searching within a specified locality or region. Geo-parsing attempts to categorize indexed items to a geo-location based frame of reference, such as a street address, longitude and latitude, or to an area such as a city block, municipalities, counties, etc. Through this geo-parsing and geo-tagging process, latitudes and longitudes are assigned to the indexed items, and these latitudes and longitudes are indexed for later location-based query and retrieval.